Jazz journalist James Hale's observations on the contemporary music scene, festivals, events and whatever he's been listening to.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Yoshi's Downgrades Jazz in SF

Like New York's Knitting Factory before it, the San Francisco branch of Yoshi's has decided that other forms of music might be more profitable than jazz.

As Jesse Hamlin writes in this San Francisco Chronicle article, the club – which is headquartered across the bay in Oakland – has just overcome a looming financial crisis. Now that the city's re-development agency has bailed out the Fillmore location of Yoshi's, the club's booker is looking to expand his music policy to include other genres of music. "(Jazz) won't be the main focus," says Bill Kubeczko. Among the acts he's pursuing are bluegrass legend Doc Watson and pianist Bruce Hornsby.

2 comments:

Just to note that Hornsby's already played Yoshi's many times before (as well as the Blue Note in NYC) and often uses it to indulge his jazzier sides. He's a *way* better piano player than people give him credit for. His jazz album, Camp Meeting (w/ Christian McBride & Jack DeJohnette) was pretty impressive, especially the opening, previously unreleased Ornette tune.

About The Author

James Hale is an award-winning music journalist who writes for DownBeat and has made presentations about jazz at music festivals and conferences in North America and Europe. He is a co-author of the Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues.